Maize header



July 5, 1932. a. E. EWBANK MAIZE HEADER Filed Feb. 1 8. 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet l July 5, 1932. G; E. EWBANK MAIZE HEADER Filed Feb. 18, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 A ttorney y 5, 1932- G. E. EWBANK 1,866,020

MAIZE HEADER Filed Feb. 18, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 In ventor A ftoiney July 5, 1932. I EWBANK 1,866,020

MAIZE HEADER Fil ed Feb. 18, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet -1 Inventor A ftomegj Patented July 5, 1932 enno E. EWBALTK, or nAL'H'ARr, 'rnXAs MAIZE HEADER.

Application filed February 18, 1930. Serial No. 429,397.

per together with suitable mechanismex is tending forwardly of the cutter for guiding the stalk toward the cutter and an elevator 1 f E I I V I rorwardly 01 the machine and has its for-f extending into the hopper rearwardly of the cutter for conveying the head of the stalk: p p U NWheelsS. This forward extended end of the inwardly of the hopper.

V A still further objectof the invention-isto provide a mac-hine'of theabove character 1n eluding suitable means for tiltingthe cutter and the guide mechanism associated there- 'with for compensating for the length of the J I v I v n frame ad acentthe forward: end of thejside and intermediate theend's of the side frame bar 6 as clearly disclo scd in',

r31? stalks. v v

A still further object of the invention is to provide a Kaiiir or maize header which is comparatively the purpose :designed. v Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during a study of the following description, taken in conneczi-J tion with the accompanying drawings, where- 'in: i Figurel is aside elevational view of the machine, t v

Figure Figure 3 is'ja rear end elevat thereof, e

Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail elevational view of the guard and endless drag or guide mechanismassociated therewith,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary detail view of 2 is a top plan view thereof,

ional view certain details of construction for more clearly illustrating the intermittent gearing for operating the guide 1nechanism,cutter and endless conveyor or elevator,

Figure 6 is a fragmentary detail viewpart- 1 ly in section, andpartly in elevation for more clearly disclosing the mechanism for titing the guard,.cutter mechanism and associated a parts.

frame bar simple in constructionfthoroughly reliable and pract cal and efficient in operation, and otherwiseiwell adapted for o e I 1 SltBSldGS of a-gear casing 11.

lVith reference more in detail to the-drawings, it will be seen that the invention comprises a substantially U-shaped main ifr ame grass rArsNr oF iCs designated generally by the reference char acterxF and comprising apair of spacedparallel s1de bars 5 and 6 respect vely and a cross bar 7 connecting the rear end of the side bars 5 -and ;6. V r i It is to be noted that the side barG-isof a length greater than the length oftheside bar5, and'that the same side bar 6 extends ward extended; end suitably supportedfon The mainframe F is supported on suitable Stread wheels 9 journalled on the end of a transverse axle 9. The axle 9 extends transversely of the Figure 2. Axle housing sections aredesig nated by the reference character 10.:The

axle housingsections 10 extend frombppo- Mounted on the frame F rearwardly of at its top and has the upper extended forwardlyas at 13. ,Theaxle lions-H ring 10 is rockably mounted on the axle Q a'nd integralwith the housing 10 and rising ,up-

wardl ftherefrom from oppositelends thereofare standards or uprights 14. A horizontal shaft'lo extends transversely off-the hopper 12 at the upper forward end there- 'of and the ends of the shaft 15' are operable X in arcuate slots l6 formedin the side walls of the hopper 12 as clearly. shown in. Figure 1.

The ends of shaft "15 extends beyond I the adjacent sides-offthevhopper 12,5116. saidcnds of the shaft are journalled insuitable ng l'l formed on theupper ends of the,

standards 14. I

Slidably supported on the uprights 14 is a vertically movable frame designated gen erally by the reference character V. The' frame Vcomprises upper and lower spaced parallel bars 18 and 19 respectively, that are fixedto the sleeve a intermediate the upper connected at corresponding ends by vertical sleeves 20 slidable on the uprights 14.

the shaft 21 extends into and Intermediate the frame B and extendin J1 through one. upper and lower bars 18 1s a rotatable bearing sleeve 20a suitably keyed to the intermediate portion of a vertical rotatable shaft 21. The upper end of the shaft 21 is journaled in a suitable bearing 22 carried by the shaft 15 intermediate the ends of theshaft, and thevlower end of through the top of the'gear housing or casing 11. A

' beveled gear 23 is formed on the lower inner endof the shaft and meshes with a beveled gear24 keyed to the axle 9-within the gear housing 11;

i'Extending transversely of the hopper 12 atthe upper. rear end is a shaft 24,011 which is mountedf3. "suitable roller carrying the "upper end Of'ttIlBllCllQSS conveyor or elevator 25, the lower end of the elevator 25 embody ing a suitable roller mounted on a rotatable shaft 26journalled in suitable'brackets26a depending from'the lower frame bar 19.

The-forward wallof the hopper 12 adjacent its lower end and opposite the lower end of the elevator 25 is provided with an intake gers, and as shown, the guard fingers 36 and n 37 converge toward each other at the lower longitudinal edges, said lower longitudinal opening 27. On one end thereof, the shaft 26 is provided with a gear 33 in mesh with a gear '35. on the lower end of sleeve 20.

, Extendingforwardly from, and carried by the frameB, are a. pair of elongated guard fingers 36 and 37 respectively. As shown in 'Figure '4, the guard finger36 extends forw'ardly from theelevator 25 while the guard finger37 at its rear end extends rearwardly and to one side of the lower end of the elevator 25.

The guard fingers 36 and 37 are similar in construction to the ordinary corn binder finedges terminatln in spaced parallelism to provide therebetween what may be termed a carry up slot or channel designated by the reference character'38fi Sprockets 39 and 40 respectively are 1 journalled on a vertical axis at the forward and rear end respectively of the guard finger 37 while a third sprocket 41 is provided on j the upper end of the sleeve 20a. An endless chain 42 is trained over the sprockets39, 40

and 41, and carried by the chain and projecting therefrom are guide fingers 43. V I As shown to advantage in Figure-4, the guide fingers 4 3 are adapted to bridge the carry up channel or space between the guard fingers 36an d 37. As shown to advantage in andlower frame bars 18 and '19and the gear blyjournalled on the guard finger 1 The shaft 46 is disposed adjacent the lower during cut the heads from the stalksand the cut heads will then be guided on to the lower end of the elevator 25 to be carried upwardly and rearwardly thereby and finally deposited in the hopper 12.

From the foregoing then it will be seen that as the machine is drawn over the ground, the guard fingers 36 and 37 will straddle a rowrof stalks and the individual stalk will be contacted with by the fingers 43 during the travel of the chain 42 in the direction of the arrowshown in Figure 4, one run of the chain being substantially paralled to the lower longitudinal edge of the guard finger 37 so that the fingers 43 will'bridge the space 48 for contact with the stalks thus maintaining the's'talks in an upright position to be cut by the cutter 47.

Manifestly, the chain 42, cutter 47, and elevator 25 will be simultaneously actuated travel of the machine over the ground. This simultaneous operation is effected as follows: 7

The vertical shaft 21 is rotated through the medium of the intermeshing gears 23 and 24 from the axle 9 whereby rotation is imparted to the shaft 23 for actuating the elevator in the direction shown by the arrow in Figure 5 through the intermeshing of the gears 33 and 35, while obviously the chain 42 is actuated through the rotation of the sprocket 41 on shaft 21 while lastly rotation is imparted to the cutter 47 through the intermeshing of the gears 44 and 45.

Upon each end of the shaft 15 for rotation therewith is a pulley 49 over which is trained a flexible cable 50, one'end of the cable being secured as at 51 to the upper .end of an adjacent sleeve 20, so that obviously by rotatthe hopper 12 as clearly suggested in Figures 1 and 2.

Manifestly this raising and lowering of the frameV will permit of the cutter 47 and the. chain 42 carrying the fingers 43 with the guard fingers 36 and 37 arranged in any predetermined distance above the ground as will be required by the length of the stalk. At the rear end of each of the frame bars 5 and 6 is mounted a pair of spaced apart bearings 54 and a screw shaft 7 threaded iii throughout its length has its ends journaled within these bearings, the shaft being designated by the reference character 55. Longitudinally movable of the shaft is a casing 56. A nut 57 is threaded'on the shaft 55, and this nut 57 is provided with an external annular groove 58 for rotative inter- Actuating rods or links 64 at their upperends are provided with eyes for receiving the end of the shaft 15, and at their lower ends the links 64 are pivoted to the housing 56 as at 65;

Manifestly by rotatingthe shaft through the intermeshing; of the gears 59 and 60-the housing 56 will be moved any predetermined distance longitudinally of the shaft 55 whereby the upright 14: will be disposed at any suitable desired angle thus positioning the guard fingers 36 and 37, the chain 42 carrying the fingers 43, and the cutter 7 at any desired inclination as may be desired in heading the stalks.

t is thought that from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, a clear understanding of the operation, construction, utility and advantages of an invention of this character Will be had by those skilled in the art Without a more detailed description.

Even though I have herein shown and described the preferred embodiment of my in vention, it is to be understood that the same is susceptible to changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described, and the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new 1s:

1. In a device of the character described, a hopper, an inclined elevator mounted in the hopper, and having one end thereof ex tending through an opening provided in the wall of the hopper, a movably mounted supporting frame, means for supporting the last referred to end elevator on said frame, and means for securing the frame at a desired angular adjustment relative to the perpendicular.

2. In a device of the character described, a pair of pivotally mounted relatively spaced uprights, a frame slidably supported between said uprights, an endless conveyor, means for supporting one end of the cons veyor, means on said frame for supporting the other end of the conveyor, a rotatably mounted shaft, a bearing sleeve on saidframe in which said shaft is journalled, means for transmitting movement of the shaft to the endless conveyor, means for securing said frameat the desired adjustment relative to the uprights, and means for securing said uprights at the desired angular adjustment relative to the perpendicular.

3. In a device of the character described, a frame, uprights for slidably supporting the frame, means for swinging said uprights on a horizontal axis, a pair of guard fingers carried by said frame and projecting therefrom, gathering chains on said guard fingers,

a cutter mounted on one of said guard fingers adjacent one end thereof, a bearing sleeve pivotally mounted in said frame, a rotatable shaft journalled in thebearing sleeve, means I for transmitting movement from said shaft to said chains and cutters, driving means for said shaft, and means for securing said frame at the desired adjustment relative to the ground, and relative to the perpendicular respectively.

4. In a device of the character described,

gathering mechanism, an endless conveyor, means for mounting one end of the conveyor providing a pivot for the conveyor, a vertically movable member, means for mounting the other end of said conveyor on said verti-- cally movable member, means for mounting said gathering mechanism on said movable member, means for raising and lowering said movable member, supporting means for said movable member, and comprising a pair of spaced apart uprlghts, means for mounting said uprights for swinging movement rela- IOU tive to the perpendicular, and means for se- I curing said uprights at the desired angular.

adjustment relative to the perpendicular. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

GENO E. EWBANK. 

